Coast Guard, forest officials seize over one tonne of sea cucumber in TN

In a joint operation with the Forest department, 1,200 kg of banned sea cucumber, meant for smuggling, was seized from a boat and its crew of two men was apprehended on Tuesday, the Coast Guard said.

Following a tip-off on illegal transhipment of sea cucumber, the Coast Guard initiated a joint patrol with personnel from the Forest department and monitored the movement of suspicious vessels.

Subsequently, a boat was intercepted and a joint team of Coast Guard and Forest officials found 110 gunny bags of sea cucumber weighing 1200 kilos in it, a CG release here said.

The boat (with its crew of two) was brought to coastal Ramanathapuram district's Mandapam north fishing harbour.

''On investigation, it was revealed that the consignment was planned for transhipment across the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) during dark hours.'' The Wild Life Protection Act prohibits fishing, trade, and transport of sea cucumber.PTI VGN SS PTI PTI